So this is my post from yesterday (Sunday) that I had intended to upload to my blog this morning but the internet at the hotel was not "open" this morning...I think that means too many people were on it which makes no sense since it was 6 am??? So I just got back to the hotel & am posting it now & will write my Monday blog in my room tonight & try to upload it in the morning - fingers crossed the internet is "open"
This post is all “Morocco Tourist stuff” as we had a day “off” before we start surgeries tomorrow -a really rare occasion on a mission. So if you are more interested in the real “mission moments” you might want to skip this entry & come back tomorrow – it’s really just my journal 😊
So I had contact with some LDS church leaders here in Morocco but the closest branch was in Rabat – 2 hours away. So getting to church was not really an option for me today so I did enjoy some church music & scripture reading to start my day. As I mentioned in my past post the “Team Day” was a trip to a crocodile farm? Which didn’t interest too many people so a lot of folks made their own plans & only about 30 of the 150 team members went there. I ended up going on a “tours by locals” with Gayle, Cathy, Whitney & Becky. It was a 6 hour trip to “Paradise Valley” which Gayle had heard about in a travel book. It was a really great day & I know that my neighbor Jane has done these on her trips so I am now a fan of that!
Abdell was our tour guide & he was FABULOUS… we started at Women’s Cooperative Argan Oil & Herb Garden where about 30 women in this village work together to generate the Argan oil products. They showed us the process of obtaining the Argan oil which was very difficult & laborious to open each piece of fruit that is dried & then in a hard nut shell to get the Argan nut inside (it looks like a blanched & flatter almond. After that the nuts are ground into a paste & that is how the oil is released. There are 2 “grades of oil” one for cosmetics & the other for food & cooking. watched 3 women doing the process & they let us try it & were all struggled. They said that in all the villages it is done by hand & in some places they is some machinery but that is rare. They had lemon verbenia plants, lavender, rosemary, & all of those scents reminded me of a Bath & Body store! Afterwards they had products for us to purchase & I was happy to support their efforts. They also let us try all sort of flavors of honey that they make their & the Argan Butter (a lot like almond butter). Argan trees exist only in Morocco & are protected & can’t be cut down.
After that he took us to the high atlas mountain area where we had great views of the mountains & valleys. We drove thru “Honey Road” where most all of the people in that area are bee keepers then to “Banana Village (Aourar)” & Abdell stopped & bought us bananas to eat – they were the small ones & really yummy. Then we got to the main purpose of the tour Paradise Valley named by international hippies in the 60’s. It was a bit of a hike down into the valley & I realized how far down we went when we had to hike back out! It was very pretty there. The water level was low as they did not have much rain this year. They typically have 300 sunny days in Morocco so not a lot of weather changes. We put our feet in the water but didn’t swim there & then part of the tour was to have lunch there at this very tiny café that made a delicious chicken & vegetable Tanjine – probably the best meal I have had since I left home!
From there Abdell took us to Devils Rock at Taghzout beach. There is a Moroccan legend that if a woman stands there & let’s 7 waves pass by her & mist over ger she will get a husband – we put the 2 single ladies out there – Whitney our Child Life Specialist & Becky and anesthesiologist from London & counted the 7 waves for them. It was also a great photo spot. I loved being at the beach with the smell of salty water & sand – it was the smell of home 😊. After that we returned to the hotel & by 5:15 had to meet in the lobby to go to another hotel for our pre-surgery meeting…I am not a huge fan of “Moroccan Time” & it makes the old “Mormon Time” seem like people arrive early LOL. Seriously though we got there for a meeting & dinner. The meeting didn’t start until 7:30, it lasted until 8:30 then their were specialty meetings so the nurses meeting lasted another 30 min & by the time we started to eat (fortunately it was a buffet) it was 9. I ate pretty quickly & opted to take a taxi back with a few people so I could get showered & “packed” for the hospital tomorrow. I have to pack my scrubs, my snacks, my nurse “supplies” and of course a diet coke for the 4 pm lull that always comes. So let the marathon known as surgery week begin…we have 221 children on the schedule & some on “stand by” so it will be a busy, fulfilling, tiring, and lifechanging week – for the patients & me! Off to bed & will post this in the morning before I go – wake up is at 5:45, team mtg at 6:15 & depart for the hospital at 6:45. That schedule they keep with precisions – the evening & meeting schedule not so much. Good night & let the week of surgeries begin!
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